Israeli ministries of internal security, religious affairs and tourism in cooperation with Israeli municipality of Jerusalem approved the cable car project which is going to link the Magharebah gate, David city in Silwan town, Scopus Mount and Lions Gate all together at the expense of Palestinians’ Awqaf lands in Bab al-Rahma gate cemetery.

This project is one of 19 Judaization settlement projects within the "Jerusalem new vision" schema most of which in the southern area of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The cost of which is estimated at 400 million dollars and it is expected to be finished in 2030. For his part, head of the Islamic supreme authority Sheikh Ekrema Sabri condemned the cable car project and called for its cancellation.

Establishing a cable car over the walls of the Aqsa Mosque violates the sanctity of the Islamic Waqf in Occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa holy site, he underlined.

Establishing the cable car project will involve changing the traffic routes for constructing a huge bridge from the Maghareba gate towards Silwan town in addition to widening of roads in the area in order to fit to the expected severe traffic in the area especially after building up new facilities within the coming five years.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is embarking nowadays on carrying out new deep diggings several meters away from the southern side of the Aqsa Mosque and the historical wall of Jerusalem.

According to local sources, the Israeli antiquities authority started, with funding from the settler group Elad, to carry out widespread diggings at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of Silwan district.

Truckloads of dirt and rock have been removed from the site, where the depth of these diggings are estimated to have reached four meters so far.

According to a recent field visit to the site conducted by Qpress news agency, the new excavations seem to be aimed at connecting the network of underground tunnels beneath the Givati parking lot and the so-called City of David area with each other.

The Arab League on Tuesday warned of a religious conflict waged by the Israeli occupation authorities and fueled by preplanned terrorism in Occupied Jerusalem.

Israel’s aggressive policies in Occupied Jerusalem will only lead to more tension and trigger unabated religious conflict in the region, Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmad Ben Helli, told reporters.

He added that Israel is placing the region on the brink of a volcano that is very likely to explode at any moment.

He slammed the Israeli occupation authorities for their resort to counterfeit pretexts to justify the settlers' break-ins at Muslims’ the Holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

“Such practices represent a barefaced provocation to Muslims’ sentiments,” Ben Helli further stated as he warned of an Israeli escalation against the Muslim and Christian communities in Occupied Jerusalem.

According to Ben Helli, such Israeli measures fall in line with an Israeli settlement scheme aimed at altering the geo-demographic identity of the holy city.

He called on the international community and the United Nations Security Council to urgently intervene and work on ceasing Israel’s preplanned terrorism against the Palestinian people.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned on Monday the recurring and dangerous attacks waged by the Israeli occupation forces and fanatic settlers on the Holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

OIC slammed the increasing Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa, saying the Israelis have detained guards, banned renovation works, and cracked down on the peaceful Muslim worshipers.

The statement quoted OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani as condemning such dangerous Israeli measures that breach "the historic status of the Mosque," provoke Muslims' feelings and constitute a brazen breach of the Geneva Convention and international laws.

Madani added that such recurring and provocative Israeli attacks on the holy site might lead to an explosive situation in the region.

Madani urged the United Nations Security Council to move quickly to stop the repeated Israeli attacks against the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Occupied Jerusalem, as well as their racist acts and crimes against the Palestinian people and their holy sites.

The Jordanian authorities have strongly denounced Israel's "wanton" violation of the Aqsa Mosque's sanctity through its persistence in allowing Jewish settlers to defile it, especially during the last two days and today.

Jordanian minister of awqaf and religious affairs Wael Arabiyat expressed his country's condemnation of the unprecedented massive desecration of the Aqsa Mosque that happened yesterday morning by over 400 Jewish settlers escorted by a large number of police forces.

Arabiyat also deplored the Israeli police for allowing more than 27 settlers to defile the Mosque during the dawn and morning hours of Monday.

He slammed the rituals which the settlers performed during recent break-ins at the Mosque and the brutal police assaults on Muslim worshipers as a "flagrant disregard for the Muslim nation's feelings and a clear violation of the international law and norms."

He warned that "Israel's persistence in its violation against the Aqsa Mosque would lead to a religious war in the region."

The minister hailed all Muslims and awqaf employees who courageously confronted the settlers' break-ins at the Mosque and called on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the UN to swiftly move to curb Israel's escalating violations at the Islamic holy site.

The Director of the Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani said that 397 settlers, in groups, stormed the Aqsa Mosque on Sunday while 467 foreign tourists entered the holy site from al-Magharebah gate.

In an interview with the PIC, Kiswani revealed that settlers’ incursion into the Muslims’ holy place was made under the claim of marking the so called "the Destruction of Temple of Solomon".

He pointed out that Israeli forces assaulted four Muslim worshipers and arrested three old men during the incursion.

Israeli Special Forces attacked Head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society in Occupied Jerusalem Naser Qous and dragged him at the southern mosque within the Aqsa Mosque.

Kiswani warned of the Israeli violations and the increase of the numbers of settlers who storm the Aqsa in addition to the Israeli police aggressive attacks at Jerusalemite people.

He called on Muslims and Arabs to take serious actions to defend the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalemite people. The Sheikh also asked Palestinians from all over Palestinian territories to visit the Aqsa Mosque especially in the morning time and on the Jewish holidays which are the times when settlers intensively carry out incursions at the Aqsa.

Reports have recently been released by Israeli news outlets on underway preparations to build the alleged temple mount on the ruins of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, pending a formal political decision.

The reports came at a time when Israelis have celebrated the so-called destruction of the temple ceremony.

Participants in the underway preparations claimed that the transfer of the needed equipment to the al-Aqsa Mosque, precisely to the Dome of the Rock, was probable within the next few hours.

They added that the construction works will take no more than three years time.

A report aired Saturday by the Israeli Channel 2 revealed underway activities and arrangements by the Israeli Women for the Temple Organization to start the construction of the alleged temple.

The activities include workshops and secret meetings to boost mass break-ins at al-Aqsa Mosque and celebrate wedding ceremonies once every couple of days.

Efforts have also been underway by Israeli lobbies to put such Israeli schemes into effect and garner support for the bid among Israeli MKs and stakeholders.

Another report broadcast Friday by the Israeli Channel 1 showed intensive preparations for the construction of the alleged temple, including raising a livestock as a sacrifice to the temple.

The report quoted the director of the Temple Institute, Yisrael Ariel, as stating that over 40 priests are awaiting instructions to start their work in the alleged temple and that the institute has prepared the needed equipment for the temple.

An Israeli map maker said during an interview that he has prepared detailed maps for the construction of the alleged temple on the ruins of al-Aqsa and over an area of 144 dunums. He added that a period of three years is fair enough to finalize the construction works.

On Sunday, a group of around 250 armed Israeli settlers, accompanied by dozens of Israeli soldiers, invaded the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in the world for Muslims.

The Israeli settlers, mainly religious Jews, invaded the mosque as part of their celebration of the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’av. Palestinian Muslim worshipers who were present at the time of the invasion attempted to stop the invasion, and were attacked by soldiers and settlers.

The Israeli soldiers stood guarding the 250 Israelis as they moved into the holy site. Although Israeli authorities have signed numerous agreements to allow the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem to have full jurisdiction over the al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli soldiers control all entry into and out of the mosque.

Over the past month, Israeli authorities have detained 21 staff members of the Islamic Waqf which administers the mosque. In addition, the military has issued dozens of ‘ban orders’ against individual Palestinians, preventing them from worshiping in or entering the mosque. The Palestinians who received these bans say that the Israeli military gave them no reason for banning them from the mosque, and noted there is no way to appeal the ban.

During the invasion on Sunday, 18 Palestinians were injured, mainly by so-called ‘non-lethal’ weapons fired by the Israeli military. These weapons include rubber-coated steel bullets, concussion grenades, and tear gas.

Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the head of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, told Palestinian reporters from the Ma’an news agency, “We deny Israel’s claim that these raids are just visits and tourism. Israeli settlers are constantly raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to provoke the Muslim worshipers by practicing prayers and rituals in a holy place for Muslims only. Israel is violating all international regulations by its procedures in Al-Aqsa compound.”

Over recent days, Israeli fanatics called for mass break-ins at al-Aqsa to mark the destruction of the temple ceremony.

Meanwhile, Hamas Movement urged the Palestinian masses to speak up against such Israeli aggressions on al-Aqsa and stand up for Muslims’ rights to perform their prayers in the site.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri warned of the serious repercussions of the Israeli escalation at al-Aqsa, calling on the international parties to urgently step in and bring such Israeli assaults to a halt.

The Israeli occupation forces and settlers stepped up attacks on and break-ins at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—in an attempt to wipe out the typically Islamic idiosyncrasy of the site.

Under tight police protection, hundreds of Jewish settlers and officials on Sunday morning embarked on desecrating the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in groups to mark the alleged temple destruction anniversary.

According to local sources, over 180 settlers toured the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in different groups while hundreds were still waiting in the morning to enter the holy site through al-Maghariba Gate under police escort.

Special police troops and senior officers were already deployed in different areas of the Mosque to provide protection for the settlers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian worshipers were asked to hand over their ID cards to policemen at all gates and entrances leading to the Mosque before allowing them in. In a related incident, Israeli policemen escorted one of the settlers out of the Islamic holy site after one of the mosque guards stopped him from performing rituals.

They also expelled two Palestinian young men after they chanted religious slogans in protest at the desecration of the Mosque.

As part of their restrictions on the entry of Muslims to the holy place today, the Israeli police also closed several gates of the Aqsa Mosque.

During the last few days, extremist Jewish groups had embarked on inciting their communities to participate in Sunday's break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque.

Different Jewish groups also organized at night Saturday oratorical and religious activities during a march around the ancient walls of Jerusalem and near the Aqsa Mosque in the presence of right-wing Israeli government officials and Knesset members.

In this regard, the Hamas Movement warned yesterday that fanatic Jewish groups of settlers and officials intend to participate in mass break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque to commemorate the destruction of alleged Talmudic temples, and urged the Palestinians to intensify their presence at the holy site to protect it.

Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Resheq described the intents of Jewish settlers and officials to defile the Mosque en masse on Sunday as part of Israel's plan to divide it between Muslim and Jews.

Hundreds of settlers including extremist Jews at a late hour at night on Saturday stormed Damascus and Herod's gates in Occupied Jerusalem.

The incursion came within a night march in celebration of the so called “The Destruction of the Temple of Solomon” under protection of Israeli police and army.

Israeli forces declared a state of alert to pave the way for the “big incursion” into the Aqsa Mosque at dawn Sunday. Israeli police intensified the deployment of its forces in the streets of the Occupied Jerusalem especially in the Old City in preparation for the settlers’ march.

Over 2,000 settlers headed to the Old City from west Jerusalem after midnight and attended the Jewish rituals of the ninth of August. Israeli police also declared the closure of many roads in the vicinity of the Old City in order to allow the largest possible number of settlers to express their "sadness" over the destruction of the alleged Temple of Solomon.

On the other hand, a score of Jerusalmite people told the PIC reporter that there had been preparations for confronting settlers and preventing them to violate the sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque.

They opined that Israeli incursions into the holy city and the arrest campaigns against Jerusalemite people aim at intimidating Palestinians and preventing them from confronting settlers or resisting the Israeli occupation, as well as to impose sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque.

The Jerusalemites slammed the Palestinian and Jordanian authorities for not defending the holy city of Jerusalem and for not confronting the Israeli violations.